The Man on the Run
Words + Music: Vol. 42
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Narrated by:
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Paul McCartney
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Morgan Neville
In the 1970s, Paul McCartney was a man on the run.
After the breakup of The Beatles, the biggest and most culturally influential band of the 1960s, Paul McCartney faced an impossible question: Who was he now? At 27 years old, being a Beatle was all he had known since he was a teenager. Now he had to figure out who he was as an artist, as a husband, and as a father.
In this Audible Original, hear Paul tell the story of his most transformative decade in his own words. Based on interviews conducted with Paul by Academy Award-winning director Morgan Neville over three years in Los Angeles, New York, and London, this is an immersive deep dive into this period of his life.
From his retreat to a dilapidated farmhouse in rural Scotland with his wife Linda and their young family, to forming Wings and touring universities in a van, to recording Band on the Run in Nigeria—this is the intimate, unfiltered story of how Paul McCartney reinvented himself. Discover the painful end of The Beatles, his reconciliation with John Lennon, the creation of his solo album McCartney, the collaborative spirit of Ram, and the personal challenges that shaped this extraordinary decade.
This is Paul McCartney's story of creative resilience, personal growth, and the courage to follow his instincts no matter where they led: a lesson not just in creative freedom, but in what it means to grow up.
Featuring iconic performances from Paul's catalog including "Maybe I'm Amazed," "Band on the Run," "Live and Let Die," and more.
Special Thanks: Scott Rodger, Steve Ithell, Jaime Finkel, Lucie Panton, Lee Eastman, Alex Parker, Alicia Beauchamp Scott, Aoife Corbett, Ben Chappell, Iona Murray-Brown, Jamie Kirkham, Maddy Evans, Mark Levy, Nancy Jeffries, Nansong Lue, Patricia O'Hearn, Richard Ewbank, Richard Miller, Ross Martin, Samantha Townsend, Steve Orchard
©2026 MPL Communications, Ltd (P)2026 Audible Originals, LLC.Accolades & Awards
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Like having a coffee with Paul
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Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant!
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There are all kinds of details, small moments about his domestic life, for example, like trying to cobble together a crib for his baby daughter from things around the farm because he'd forgotten to buy a crib, that never would have made it to video but provide a well-rounded and very human portrait in audio.
One of the bonuses of this Audible music series and podcasts like McCartney's own McCartney: A Life in Lyrics, is that we actually get to hear the music. This is something you don't often get from third-party podcasts, where copyright and licensing costs makes that near impossible. By the way, if you haven't listened to McCartney: A Life in Lyrics, you should give it a try. It's a great look into the creative process of one of the great songwriters.
At over three hours, this is one of the longest of the Words + Music programs. (As of today, only Rufus Wainwright's appears to be longer.) And it's a great gift for McCartney and Beatles fans. There are a lot of stories that the veteran fan may already know. Linda, a musical amateur, getting major flack for joining the band with her husband. Paul searching for a new sound to distance himself from his Beatle past. The critics flogging him over the album Ram when it first came out. (It's a great album. Check it out.) The enduring partnership of Paul and Linda.
Yet the stores are peppered with some engaging off-the-beaten-path anecdotes and new reflections from McCartney. The film's director steps in to provide context to the various eras of McCartney's post-Beatles life. So at the very least, this provides a deeper dive for anyone who enjoyed the Man on the Run documentary. But it's also a compelling look at one man's messy and uncertain path of reinvention in music and transformation from the "cute one" n the Beatles to the more mature songwriting and road-touring family man.
Maybe I'm amazed. Yeah, actually.
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Incredible - loved this listen
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More of the story
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